


A Wundrous Night at the Opera

by Lumau, pluckycluckyducky, Ranger_NJoyC



Category: Nevermoor Series - Jessica Townsend
Genre: ARCHTHORNE, DO I NEED TO SAY ANY MORE, Jupidad, Oh I guess mild Hollowpox spoilers?, Other, This is going to be cute, and, and his poly boyfriends, dame chanda and her suitors, morridence, nevermoor opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27657293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumau/pseuds/Lumau, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pluckycluckyducky/pseuds/pluckycluckyducky, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ranger_NJoyC/pseuds/Ranger_NJoyC
Summary: "The colourful crowd was streaming into the candlelit foyer of the concert hall, excited chattering filled the air. Morrigan couldn’t help but gawp at the incredibly mesmerising view of the luxurious interior. Jack next to her seemed unimpressed, as per usual.Tonight’s opera was specifically suitable for all ages, as Dame Chanda had emphasised several times and therefore she had offered to not only invite her fellow Deucalion entourage to the opening night, but also Morrigan’s and Jack’s friends. They had arranged to meet them before the start of the show so they could sit with them on the main floor rather than in Jupiter’s private box."This is a collaboration and will focus on a different character/ship in each chapter!1 - intro / Jupratim (lumau)2 - Morridence (Ranger_NJoyC)3 - Archthorne (pluckycluckyducky)
Relationships: Archthorne - Relationship, Jupratim, Morridence - Relationship, juprafel
Comments: 20
Kudos: 39





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited about this little collaboration!
> 
> I really wanted to write something very wholesome and positive for a change. And give Jupiter the polycule he deserves.

The colourful crowd was streaming into the candle lit foyer of the concert hall, excited chattering filled the air.  
Morrigan couldn’t help but gawp at the incredibly mesmerising view of the luxurious interior. Jack next to her seemed unimpressed, as per usual.

Tonight’s opera was specifically suitable for all ages, as Dame Chanda had emphasised several times and therefore she had offered to not only invite her fellow Deucalion entourage to the opening night, but also Morrigan’s and Jack’s friends. They had arranged to meet them before the start of the show so they could sit with them on the main floor rather than in Jupiter’s private box.

The little group handed over their coats at the check room first, then stopped to get an overview.

Jupiter spun around, beaming brightly at all of them, arms outstretched as if he owned the place.

“Isn’t it just _nice?”_ He exclaimed, and Morrigan and Jack shared a silent look of raised eyebrows and sceptical amusement.

The over-boarding enthusiasm of Jupiter on NRE was both embarrassing and contagious. Even in such an extravagant environment he still managed to stand out like a beacon, with his flaming ginger mane and wide smile, not even to mention his perfectly cut 3 piece suit made out of aubergine velvet, contrasted by the glittering golden shirt and dress shoes.  
Of course everyone was watching them with either bemused curiosity or recognition and people kept greeting “Captain North!”, “Jupiter, so good to see you!” as they made their way past them.

Luckily neither of his boyfriends seemed to mind that he was the inevitable centre of attention anywhere he went – just as well, otherwise they’d probably have a very hard time, Morrigan mused.  
Israfel was himself an impressive appearance, dashingly elegant with his shimmering black wings tucked behind his shoulders like a smooth cape, sporting the slightly aloof and serene expression that meant he was quite content with the world.  
Jupiter stopped to offer his arm to Tim, who had been lagging behind a bit. His neat, classic black and white suit that Jupiter had forced on him made quite a difference compared to his scrubs. The golden W-pin gleamed on his lapel, and Morrigan was glad to see that he seemed to have fully recovered from the strenuous events surrounding the Hollowpox outbreak.

Jack rolled his eyes at her exaggeratedly, and straightened his bow-tie, just as he spotted one of his friends from school.  
“Sam!” he called over to him, waving and running off. Morrigan grabbed his arm to stop him.   
“Jack! You can’t leave me alone with _them_ ! I’ll die of shame before the opera even starts!” she hissed.   
Jack freed himself from her grip and smirked. “Don’t be dramatic, that’s Uncle Jove's job. You’ll survive. I’ll see you during the break!”

“So annoying!” Morrigan thought as he sprinted towards his friend without another look back and sighed deeply.  
She really wished she’d find Hawthorne and Cadence sooner rather than later.   
Israfel must have sensed her discomfort, as he leaned down to her, smiling conspiratorially and asked in his low, melodic voice “How about we go and get something to drink for everyone while you’re waiting for your friends?”

She gladly accepted, and they made their way over to the completely over the top, but absolutely marvellous punch fountain in the centre of the foyer.  
Israfel’s physique with his wide wings made it easy for them to wade through the gathering crowd that parted to let them through.

They passed a group of six men that Morrigan immediately recognised as Dame Chanda’s suitors – all of them were huddled around a copy of the programme and swooning over the impressive photos of the star of the show, their beloved grand high soprano.  
Israfel and Morrigan’s eyes met for a second and both had to look away quickly to not burst out laughing at the sight of them surpassing each other with compliments for her.

Their way back through the moving masses of people was a little more challenging as they were each balancing two glasses of wriggly purple punch.  
They spotted Jupiter and Tim towards the rear end of the foyer where an enormous staircase ascended towards the upper levels where the private boxes were located.

Jupiter seemed to be in the middle of one of his wildly improbable stories, gesturing theatrically, while Tim was watching him with his signature air of slightly bored scepticism and annoyance, that couldn’t quite cover up the tiny smile that creeped around the corners of his mouth.

Morrigan glanced up at Israfel and found him watching them with an amiable expression.   
“It is quite nice that I am not the only one who isn’t laughing at his jokes anymore,” he confided.  
She snorted. “So… you get along well?”   
As a personal rule Morrigan tried to steer clear of inquiring about Jupiter’s complex love life, but Israfel had somehow become a part of their family by now, and she found she did care about him after all.

“Well, Tim and I are still getting to know each other. But yes, it’s going quite well.”  
He responded with a shrug that made his wings rustle a bit. “What about you?”   
“Me?” Morrigan felt herself panicking a little, “What about me? How I like Tim?”   
“No,” Israfel smiled knowingly, “I meant, how is it going for you with...”  
He nodded towards the check room, where Hawthorne, Arch and Cadence were just handing in their coats.

Morrigan felt her stomach do a nervous excited flip and the heat rising to her face.   
She took a hasty gulp of her punch that made her choke and splutter.

“Chill. Totally chill! I’d better hurry before I lose them in the crowd!” she croaked hoarsely, and rushed off towards her friends.

Jupiter interrupted his lecture to greet Israfel with a kiss on his cheek, smiling all over his goofy ginger bearded face.  
Relieving him of the precariously swashing punch glasses and handing one to Tim, he cast him a quizzical look.   
“Any news, Izzy?” he asked, raising one meaningful eyebrow.

“It’s chill. Totally chill.” Israfel said simply, with only the slightest hint of sardonic delight.


	2. Morridence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Morridence for y'all. Enjoy.

Morrigan rushed through the crowds and finally came to a halt next to Cadence. Hawthorne was bouncing up and down on his toes and Arch’s fingers twitched. Morrigan almost smirked, but then she glanced at Cadence and remembered why she had been running in the first place. A light blush crept up her face as she avoided looking at Cadence.

“Hey, Morrigan,” Arch said to her after a moment. Hawthorne had been too busy smirking to greet her and Cadence was Cadence.

“You look nice,” Cadence noted after a moment’s hesitation. Morrigan couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. She turned to face Cadence, who was wearing a deep purple dress that fell to her knees. It complimented her brown eyes excellently.

“You look really pretty too,” Morrigan immediately responded. And she did, she looked beautiful, in Morrigan’s opinion. She always did.

Hawthorne had a large grin on his face. He cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he announced, flinging his arms wide open and barely avoiding hitting several people walking by. “How about Cadence and Morrigan go get some drinks. Together. Alone.”

Morrigan rolled her eyes at him. “I already have a drink,” she said, gesturing to the cup in her hand.

Hawthorne lunged forward, and before Morrigan could protest, he had chugged her drink and deposited the cup on a table behind him.

“No, you don’t.” 

“Hawthorne!” Morrigan sighed. Exploiting a different tactic, she added, “You realize that would mean you and Arch have to go find the seats. Together. Alone.”

Hawthorne’s grin faltered slightly, but he mouthed ‘worth it’ back at Morrigan.

Cadence grabbed Morrigan’s arm, and she felt her face turn red.

“C’mon,” she said, dragging Morrigan back towards the table with the drinks. She shot Hawthorne one last glare, before following Cadence away from the boys.  
Once they were away from Hawthorne and Arch, Cadence turned around, hopping up onto the table and sitting back, staring at Morrigan intensely.  
“What was that about?” she asked.

“Ah, nothing,” Morrigan said, attempting to smile reassuringly. “It’s nothing,” she reiterated, even though she was trying to convince herself more than Cadence. After all, there was no way Cadence liked her back. No chance of ever being with her. Morrigan told herself this firmly, feeling a sharp pang in her gut.

~ ~ ~

Cadence frowned. Morrigan was acting weird, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it tonight. Actually, scratch that. Morrigan had been acting weird for a while now, always nervous and evasive. Cadence sighed in frustration. She wanted to help her friend, but Morrigan wouldn’t tell her what was wrong.

Mog tilted her head to the side and Cadence, acting boldly, took her chin gently and forced her to meet her eyes. Morrigan flushed a deep red, and Cadence felt her own face heating up. Cadence couldn’t help but be transfixed in Morrigan’s deep eyes. The bright lighting of the opera house reflected and danced in her eyes. They were practically sparkling. It was the most beautiful thing Cadence had ever seen.

Damn emotions, she thought. I can’t think that way about my best friend. If she knew, it would completely ruin our relationship.

Cadence took a deep breath and triedbreath tried to force the unwelcome thoughts out of her mind. Unconsciously, she started leaning forward until her face was only a few inches away from Morrigan. With a start, Cadence realized what she had been doing and hopped off the table. Morrigan jumped back.

Cadence muttered a hurried excuse and started fast walking away from Morrigan. She had almost slipped! She had almost kissed her, and oh my god. She knows, she knows I like her, what do I do?  
She didn’t know where she was going. She just pushed past guests, ducking between people. Nobody gave her a second glance. She had managed to get all the way to the corner before she heard a voice ring out across the lobby. 

“Cadence!” Morrigan yelled. Several people looked at her in mild annoyance or exasperation, but she didn’t seem to care. “Cadence, where are you?”

Cadence tried to shrink into herself, but Morrigan saw her. She always had.

“Cadence, there you are,” she said, rushing to Cadence's side. Cadence buried her head in her arm. “What was that about?” Morrigan mimicked Cadence’s earlier words, softening her tone.

“I’m sorry,” Cadence mumbled into her arm. “I totally didn’t mean to do that- almost do that, I know you don’t like me like that, I’m so sorry, it’ll never happen again-”

Morrigan interrupted Cadence’s rant by tugging her arm away from her face. A small, delicate smile was lighting up her entire face. Cadence was confused. Why would Morrigan be happy about this?  
Morrigan grabbed both of Cadence’s hands in her own and stared into her eyes. Cadence tried not to think about how sweaty her hands must be. She swallowed thickly.

“Did I ever say I don’t like you like that?” Morrigan whispered. “Have you ever asked me?”

“I-” Cadence shook her head, refusing to believe it. She didn’t want to set herself up for disappointment. “Do you?” She eventually settled on asking.

Morrigan’s eyes shined and her smiled widened. “Absolutely.” After a moment, Morrigan stood on her tip-toes and delicately kissed Cadence’s cheek. Cadence felt warmth spreading through her whole body and an identical grin emerged on her face.

“Absolutely,” she echoed, leaning in and embracing the girl in front of her. She pulled away. “We should, ah. Probably get those drinks. And meet back up with the boys,” Cadence said.  
Morrigan nodded her agreement, and Cadence led her away from the corner, back towards the drink table. People didn’t give them a second glance as they walked, hand in hand, to go regroup with Arch and Hawthorne. Hand in hand, towards a realm of endless new possibilities.


	3. Archthorne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lovely gay children. there is swearing in here, so yaknow, be warned.

Hawthorne saw Morrigan running over to where he, Arch and Cadence were standing and grinned. Morrigan stopped next to Cadence and blushed, looking away from her. Hawthorne smirked at his best friend, and she glowered back at him.

“Hey, Morrigan.” Arch greeted her. 

“You look nice.” Cadence added.

“You look really pretty too!” Morrigan replied.

Hawthorne grinned conspiratorially at Morrigan. “I have an idea.” He swung his arms out as he said this, nearly whacking several annoyed adults. “How about Cadence and Morrigan go get some drinks. Together. Alone.” Morrigan roiled her eyes, gesturing to the cup in her hand. 

“I already have a drink.” She said. Before she could do anything, Hawthorne grabbed the cup and chugged it all. 

“No you don’t.”

“Hawthorne!” Morrigan sighed. After a second she smirked at him. _Oh no. What’s she doing? This doesn’t look good._ “You realise that would mean you and Arch have to go find the seats. Together. Alone.” Hawthorne faltered for a second. _Shit- Me? Alone? With Arch? ALONE?_ **_WITH ARCH?!_ **

He recovered quickly, grinning again at Morrigan and mouthing ‘worth it’ at her. “C’mon.” Cadence grabbed Morrigan’s arm and began to lead her away. Morrigan glared at Hawthorne once more, then left with Cadence. _Shit. I’m here. With Arch. Alone._

“Um, we, y’know, should go find the seats. Like Morrigan said.” Arch said, looking down at his shoes, blushing a little.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go. We’re a couple rows behind Jupiter and his boyfriends, they should be there. Should be pretty easy to find them.” 

“Uh, yeah, cool. Let’s go.” Arch said, heading towards the entrance. Hawthorne followed, and they walked in silence for a bit, before Arch piped up again.

“Do you reckon they’re gonna realise they like each other?”

“Who?” Hawthorne asked. 

“Morrigan. And Cadence. You know, the people we’re here with?”

“Oh. Yeah. Them. Right.” Hawthorne stammered. _Duh, idiot. Who else would it be?_ “I hope so. It’s taken them long enough already.” Arch laughed. _Gods, his laugh is so cute._ Hawthorne grinned, looking down at Arch. _I wish he’d realise I like him._

~~~~~

Arch smiled back at Hawthorne, turning red yet again. _Stupid face, exposing me._ He looked away, running a hand through his hair. 

“Do you- Where are we?” Arch stopped as he noticed their surroundings. This was NOT the seating area of the Nevermoor Opera House. He turned around to look behind them, only to see a stage hand closing a set of double doors. Hawthorne walked over to the doors and tried them.

“Locked.” He announced. “We’re locked in here. Cool cool cool cool cool cool.” Arch leaned against the wall. _I’m locked in a room alone with Hawthorne. Fuck._

“So, um. How are we gonna get out?” Hawthorne said, trying the door again. Still locked. “Morrigan and Cadence won’t know where to look for us, and-” 

Arch interrupted him, pulling Hawthorne’s face down to meet his lips, kissing him, before he realised what he was doing and pulled away, avoiding meeting Hawthorne’s eyes. _Oh shit. I just did that. I just kissed Hawthorne. Shit._ Arch leaned against the wall again, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him, when the doors slammed open, and Morrigan and Cadence walked through….. holding hands? Arch grinned at them, feeling his face heat up even more.

“How are you?” He asked. Morrigan smiled back at him.

“We were worried about you guys, how did you end up here?”

“I don’t know. We were just walking and we weren’t really paying attention to where we were going, and, yeah.” Hawthorne trailed off, looking away from them. Arch noticed he was also bright red. Cadence looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Arch shrugged back at her. 

“Let’s go. Show’s about to start.”

~~~~~

Later that night, Hawthorne sat sprawled on Morrigan’s bed, replaying the events of the night over again in his head. Fittingly, the bed had turned into a large circular mattress, covered in pillows and blankets. Arch and Cadence were both spread out across the opposite side of the pile, asleep. 

“So, what happened in that room with Arch?” Morrigan leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“Nothing!” Hawthorne squeaked, his voice rising what sounded like at least 17 octaves. Morrigan snorted, glancing over to check that Arch and Cadence were still sleeping. 

“Bullshit, tell me.” Morrigan asked again, nudging his shoulder. Hawthorne leaned back into a pile of blankets, sinking into the fluffy mass. 

“Arch kissed me.” He muttered, barely audible. Morrigan raised an eyebrow at him. Hawthorne rolled his eyes, but repeated his sentence, louder this time.

“So, what happened with you and Cadence?” Hawthorne asked. 

“We………. kissed.” Morrigan looked awkwardly away from him, blushing a bit. Hawthorne grinned at her. 

“So-“

Cadence rolled over, throwing a small cushion at them. “Would you idiots please go to sleep?” 

Morrigan grinned, throwing the cushion back, and slid under some blankets.

“Goodnight, guys.” 


End file.
